


Band Battles

by Stripedpenguinsocks



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boy Band, Amnesia, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Read at Your Own Risk, band au, lots of emotions, uses music that you might not like, well my lame attempt at humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-10 23:50:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4412747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stripedpenguinsocks/pseuds/Stripedpenguinsocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Battle of the bands. A highly intense competition where bands have song challenges and fight for the title of KING OF THE BANDS. 11 bands. And Haru’s rookie band is one of them. Haru, Rin, Momo, and Nagisa are in it to win it. Though they will discover that there are more problems than just the challenges when the last seasons winning band returns to the show in order to reclaim the title. Nagisa is obsessed with their bassist, Momo is convinced that their keyboardist is a girl, Rin tries to rekindle an old friendship with their drummer and Haru wants to know why the lead singer seems so familiar.<br/>BAND AU<br/>PUT ON HOLD BUT WILL BE CONTINUED SOON</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First encounters

**Author's Note:**

> HELLLLLOOOOOO. Ok, so listen. I bet half of the people reading this story completely skip this part so thank you, for reading this. This story is something I'm writing just for fun, it does have a rather elaborate plot though. My writing style is also far from professional, so please bare with me through all the typos and confusing moments. Thank you!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FREE! OR ANY MUSIC USED IN THIS ENTIRE FIC
> 
> Chapter highlight:
> 
> “No thanks we are quite busy and we have places to be. Maybe another time?” Rei apologized to Nagisa. The blond looked a little deflated but cheered up after the two swapped numbers and made a promise to meet up in the future.
> 
> “I’m going to hold that promise to you!” The small blond winked. Rei stuttered for a moment, looking like a fish out of water.
> 
> “He really will,” Rin deadpanned and patted the other bassist on the back, “You don’t know what you’ve just committed to. Good Luck.”

_“Haru-chan.” Soft eyes bore into his own. The voice, swept into the wind, sickenly sweet, yet haunting at the same time. The smaller boy turned his head to avoid the kind smile that was specially tailored for him and decided to watched the headlights pass in the street instead._

_“Drop the -chan.” the mumble was barely audible but the taller boy still smiled at the predictable phrase._

_“Haru. Please look at me.” The moon shined behind the ghostly figure and the shorter tried to avoid eye contact. Under the painted black sky Haru usually felt calm, yet right now his heart pounded and adrenaline flooded throughout his body. His cheeks turned a rosy pink in contrast to the his pale skin and the breeze fluttered throughout his dark hair._

_“Un. What?”_

_“Haru, I’ve been putting this off for too long. Haru, you’re my best friend and I’m- I’m in love you…" Stunned by the words, he was left speechless. The few features Haru could make out on the figure began to look panicked, “ Haru please say something.”_

_He opened his mouth to talk, to say something. Anything. The emotions built up and his movements were all jumbled. He felt his footing slip and then the world started to fall in slow motion._

_“Haru!” Sirens._

_“Haru, Please! Wake up”_

_“Wake up!”_

 

“Wake up!” The blinding ceiling light was partially covered by a shadow looming over him. Rin. Haru groaned and felt around for a blanket to pull over his head while his annoying friend rolled his eyes. It was too goddamn early for this.

 

“Idiot! We have to get going if we want to make it to the competition.” The redhead scowled and turned on his heels to pack more stuff into an already bursting suitcase, “God, you’re almost as bad as Nagisa.”

 

“I had the dream again.” Haru brushed past Rin to go to the bathroom in the small apartment his three other band mates shared. The sleep was slowly working it’s way out of his system. A little too slowly for Rin’s taste.

 

“Eh? That weird one where someone professes their love to you?” A sigh escaped Rin’s mouth as well he kicked a pile of clothes mumbling under his breath.

 

“En.” Haru made a weird noise and the toothbrush in his mouth wiggled as he ‘spoke’. Spit dribbled down his chin a little.

 

“Eh! Haru-chan had the dream again? I bet it’s some kind of magic stuff that is trying to tell you something.” Nagisa’s tired voice groaned from the pile of cloth that Rin had kicked earlier. His hair was in disarray as he sat up and stretched his arms above his head.

 

“Ah Nagisa! You’re finally up!” A voice drifted from the closet, throwing articles of clothing in a bright orange suit case with every word.

 

“Momo! Don’t just throw it in, you and Nagisa both have that bad habit. You have to fold it first!” The blue striped fabric was torn from Momo’s hands and semi-neatly folded and dropped into a red suit case.

 

“Rin!” The always moving boy took the garment out of the suitcase and carelessly threw it back in...unfolded.

 

“Were going to miss the train. Battle of the bands isn’t going to accept tardy people.”

 

“Gosh Rin-chan! You are such a mom sometimes!” Nagisa snickered and finished throwing the clothes that were on top of him into a suit case. Who ever said that boys can’t pack?

 

The sun had just peaked above the horizon and the cool morning breeze was just starting to roll in. Rin slapped Haru awake at around six and they didn’t leave the cramped apartment until about seven. Running to the train was a pain, Nagisa almost got the four of them lost… twice.

 

He claimed there was a short cut going through the park, and lets just say that they will never go through a rough neighborhood park while it’s still pretty much dark out again.

 

“The battle of the bands are going to love us!” Momo cheered hopefully as soon as they settled down in the cushioned seats. They all let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding in. The train was a few seconds away from leaving without them, talk about cutting it close.

 

“Just don’t go crazy on the drum solo, again, Momo.” Haru stared out the window and watched the scenery, choosing to daydream. The train didn’t go through many scenic areas, it just past through fields. It wasn’t much of a view, if you asked Haru, but it was better than paying attention to Nagisa talking endlessly about something amazingly interesting he found on buzzfeed.

 

 

Haru had to admit that he hadn't been this happy since he moved to his new town and made these new friends. His past, was always haunting him terribly. He himself has no memory prior to the age of fifteen, when he got into an bad accident. His father swore before they decided moved, that Haru had absolutely no ties to the small town of Iwatobi. He had no friends. No real life. But Haru has still always wondered what exactly his days were like in the town. 

 

Rin glanced at his dysfunctional band, wondering how he managed to make it this far without murdering one of them. But if he did that, he’d be lonely. Then again, sometimes he thought that being alone might be the better option.

 

Nagisa switched between dozing off and jumping up and down while Momo was practicing his drumming on his legs.

 

How were they going to win this competition? They had too. They needed too. Battle of the bands was a famous TV show where eleven bands from all over competed to get known. They get challenges and perform while living on the same campus. While every two weeks a band gets voted off by the viewers. It was a pretty straight forward process, but competition was stiff. Bands from all over are scouted and most made it on to be world touring bands. One amature band, the rookies, gets chosen each season. Though, now that he thought about it, Rin realized that those were usually the first bands to get voted off first.

 

 _I hope we’ll be ok._ Rin clenches and unclenches his sweaty palms. Amature bands sometimes do make it though...right? It was only by chance that Nagisa had dialed the wrong radio station trying to win Ed Sheeran tickets and ended up winning this slot. 'It's fate!' He declared after telling the rest of his band.

 

“Don’t worry Rin-chan! We will do fine!” Nagisa sent him a reassuring smile. It was calming, for the most part. The competition was going to be a long, tiring, uphill battle but with this group of friends, Rin had no doubt that it was going to be anything less than entertaining. The redhead unconsciously let out a sharp laugh. Momo fiddled with his phone, and started out at the sun that was now high in the sky.

 

“I’m getting nervous ya know?” The youngest boy squirmed in his seat. Nagisa nodded along and Haru continued to remain silent.

 

The rest of the two hour ride was the most painstaking thing that Rin had ever experienced. Nagisa talked through about an hour and a half about it about some weird german lemonade recipe. Pure torture.

 

“We are about to pull into Akihabara Station. Passengers please stay seated until the train arrives to a complete stop.” The speaker was slightly staticy but understandable. Passengers waited calmly for the train to stop but Nagisa and Momo could barely stay off their feet. They immediately shot to their up and ran out of the train before the doors were fully opened. The raven haired boy sighed and got up from his seat while Rin excitedly ran to catch up with the two other hyperactive boys. Their suitcases were nearly forgotten.

 

Nagisa peered around the station, his eyes were trying to soak all of it in. There were the walls of televisions listing the stations. Beside the station wall there was a lovely view of the skyscrapers. Nothing that you would get out in the county.

 

And over there by the trash cans,  “Woah! Look! It’s last seasons champions, State of Tranquility! I wonder what they’re doing here.” Haru’s line of vision followed where the blonde was pointing. He almost stopped breathing.

 

“Haru?” Rin’s voice called after the mindlessly wandering boy. The suitcase was abandon as he walked. He just had to see. Was it really that person?

 

“Haru-Chan! Where are you going!” He heard them. But as much as he wanted to turn back and just forget this thought, something was pulling him towards the group of guys. He kept walking. That figure looked too familiar though, he just had to see. The fog clouding his mind didn’t clear away until he felt fabric in his fists and by that point he was too embarrassed to move. He had grabbed onto one of the band members shirt. Poor Haru.

 

“Haru!” Rin tore the odd teen away from the taller confused boy. Nagisa and Momo came trailing after shouting jumbled apologies to the other band. The guy observed them with a curious glance and his expression became friendly.

 

“We are so sorry for him. He’s a bit of a handful.” Nagisa bowed to their lead singer. When his pink eyes finally looked up he saw flashes of sadness and knowing in green eyes. Weird...

 

“It’s fine. I understand. We all have our quirks, no big deal.” The tall teen laughed it off. Yup, cause casually grabbing strangers shirts was no big deal apparently.

 

“Wow! You really are as nice as everyone says you are.” Nagisa expression brightened at the brunette. Rin looked curiously at Nagisa. Who were these guys? And why does that really tall one in the back look so familiar?

 

“Acquaintance of yours?” The darker redhead questioned, letting go of his friend.

 

“I wish! Silly, this is the famous band State of Tranquility! Did you not read the magazine I gave to you?” Figures that Rin wouldn’t read anything that Nagisa suggested. Though, no one could blame him. Last time, Nagisa gave Rin a magazine that had him questioning his existence.

 

“I wouldn’t say Famous…” The brunnette scratched the back of his neck.

 

“And you’re just as modest too! Guys this is Makoto Tachibana, the lead singer of the band. That’s Aiichiro Nitori, the keyboardist. Rei Ryugazaki the bassist, and their drummer is-”

 

“Sousuke Yamazaki.” Rin finished for Nagisa. He was slightly stunned at how fluently the name rolled off his tongue.

 

“Rin Matsuoka, long time no see.” The tallest male out of everyone gave Rin a small smile. This was new. The last time he had seen Sousuke was in… elementary school? Possibly more recently. He barely remembers anything previous to the age of thirteen. Nervously drawn circles in the sidewalk were made by Rin’s absent minded thoughts.

 

“Eh! You know Sou-Chan?” Pink eyes lit up as Nagisa ignored the questioning glance Sousuke gave him.

 

“Sou-chan?”

 

“Yea we used to go to elementary school together before I moved to our town. We even wrote letters for a while.” The familiar smile made Sousuke stare in curiosity, “Well, this is my band. I’m the Bassist, Nagisa here is our lead singer, Momo plays the the drums and this little freak is Haruka. He plays the keyboard.” Rin puffed his chest proudly. Rather than protest at the little quip like normal, Haru’s sapphire eyes were still glued to the tall brunette, as if he were a difficult puzzle. Catching his gaze, Makoto smiled at him rather than glare like most people would. Haru knew him. But from where?

 

Being a blunt straight to the point kind of person, Haru cleared his throat and addressed Makoto, “Do I know you?”

 

The brunette first gave a quick once over and then came a nervous laugh, “No. I don’t think I’ve ever met a Haruka before. Nope. Haha…” Next came the period of awkward silence. It was so quiet, you could hear the conversation from the platform over. Nagisa was the first to break the tension, deciding to take the friendly route, he addressed the bassist.

 

“Well lets go sight seeing! We still have sometime before we have to check in, do you guys want to come too?” Nagisa looked up at the blue haired boy wearing glasses.

 

“No thanks we are quite busy and we have places to be. Maybe another time?” Rei apologized to Nagisa. The blond looked a little deflated but cheered up after the two swapped numbers and made a promise to meet up in the future.

 

“I’m going to hold that promise to you!” The small blond winked. Rei stuttered for a moment, looking like a fish out of water.

 

“He really will,” Rin deadpanned and patted the other bassist on the back, “You don’t know what you’ve just committed to. Good Luck.”

 

Rei’s scared expression grew larger as Rin snickered. Today was the beginning of a friendship, hopefully. Haru nodded to everyone as a means of ‘bye’ as the two groups began to part ways.

 

Makoto smiled brightly in a way that felt so familiar to Haru. “See you later, Haru-chan.” And that phrase...

 

“Drop the -chan.” The taller boy gave a small laugh in response to the rude little comment that sent shivers down the shorter’s spine. Haru turned and sped up his pace to keep up with the rest of his band. That was more than Dejavu, Haru felt as if he had done that countless times. But why?

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Makoto? Are you ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Rei put a hand on his elder’s shoulder. Said boy was a bit pale looking and the his expression was somber. It was strange for him to not have his normal, kind, posture. But he just couldn’t bring himself to fake the normal swooning smile.

 

“I guess you can say that.” He half replied. His gaze was clouded and his response lacked its sweet tone. His band members and friends turned to him with a concerned look.

 

“You saw a ghost? Do you need to go to a doctor's?” Ai’s hands rested on either side of Makoto’s head and he moved it a bit, “Does this hurt?” Makoto shook his head.

  
“No, I’m fine. I just, saw a ghost from the past.” 


	2. Orientation, tours, and why are Momo and Nagisa so heavy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally arrive at the campus! Yay!!!
> 
> Chapter Highlight:
> 
> "I'm not a girl!" Ai gained the rest of the group’s attention. No one else moved, but they sure all stared like it was no ones business. Nosy teenagers. 
> 
> "But..." Momo looked shocked as he waved his arms in disbelief, "But, you're so cute!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was reading other fanfiction during this week and I realized that my writing style and skills are... well... not the best. Not to mention the characters are OOC af. But here's to another chapter and improving my skills. Maybe. Who am I kidding, I'm probably going to say this every chapter and still keep my odd, jumpy, writing style. Sorryyy

**So here’s what you missed last time on Battle of the Bands**

**Haru has this recurring dream and it’s still haunting him**

**Rin reconnects with a really old good friend, wonder how they lost touch**

**Momo still can’t sit still**

**Nagisa is excited that he met his idols,**

**And Makoto sees a ghost from the past**

**And that’s what you missed on Battle of the Bands**

“Nagisa! How did this happen...AGAIN!?” Rin felt serious deja vu when he found himself running to barely make the cut off time for signing in. They spent way too much time waiting in line for that special double fudge strawberry chocolate cake that Nagisa just _needed._

Not to mention that running on a full stomach wasn't the best feeling. Nagisa nearly ran into the check in lobby's automatic sliding doors. Momo actually did, Rin thought he heard a crack. _I really hope that was the glass and not his nose_.

“Gomen, gomen Rin-chan!” The small blonde waved the redheads scolding off and turned to the front desk, “Hi we’re the band Reckless minds and were here to compete!”

The person that registered the bands gave them a warning look and muttered “amature bands.” but handed them their passes anyways. Such a friendly guy.

The band sent the man a thankful look and turned to exit. The glass door slid open and let the cool May Breeze in, tickling the boys skin. Rin pretended not to notice the hairline fracture in the door. Momo's head really _was_ dense. The blue sky outside dotted with pink and purple colors. The sun was beginning to set a little. It was warm out, but not hot, so it was the perfect temperature for any outdoor activities.

The group found themselves looking in awe at the campus. The concrete paths that lined the campus grounds were warm from being baked in the sun all day, their only relief was the giant fountain that occasionally sprayed cool water onto the concrete. They had to find the campus map sooner or later or else they were screwed. The whole campus was about the size of a small college, and included five large dorms for the eleven bands to live in. They prayed that they wouldn’t have to be one of the bands that had to share the dorm with two other ones. One band was going to be hard enough to get along with, but two? No way.

Dorm four. That's the dorm they got. It seems like bad luck just keeps following them around.

Rin squinted, was that dorm two or three? He should really look into glasses.

“Cool! I bet there are a lot of cute girls at this place.”

“Wow look at how big this statue is!”

“Omigosh! Look at the food court! That is so cool!”

Rin felt the annoyance built up. He grit his teeth to prevent himself from shouting at his two talkative band mates. For a 16 and 17 year old, those two didn't have much in their vocabulary except for 'wow' and 'cool'. It's a wonder that they made it as far as they did in school. It's a good thing that the campus has tutoring classes twice every week. Rin turned around to yell at them only to find Momo trying to snatch Nagisa's phone away from him.

"Just let me see!" Momos hand darted around. The blond deftly dodged all of the attempts.

"No! Momo go away!" Nagisa was still typing whatever it was that he was typing. How he managed to do that and move around so sporadically was a mystery.

"Let me see." Rin held out his hand and waited for Nagisa to give it to him. Nagisa looked defeated but still clutched his phone to his chest.

"No Rin-chan! Not you too!"

"Who have you been texting for the past few hours?" Rin was now curious. Who wouldn't be when Nagisa looked like he'd cut a person if they got their hands on his phone.

"No one!"

"You're texting that other bassist?" Momo looked over Nagisa's shoulder, feeling heat radiate off of his shorter friends cheeks.

"So you're trying to replace me or..." Rin's lips tugged into a smirk "You have a crush on him don't you! Man you fall pretty fast don't ya?"

 

"I do not have a crush! You were right the first time, I'm trying to replace you Rin-chan cause you're really mean!"

"Rin, Momo, Nagisa." The three of them turned to see Haru about a foot behind them, stopped outside a modern looking dorm. Dorm four, this was it. This was their home (hopefully) for the next few months. Rin made a mental note to continue arguing with Nagisa later.

The inside was very spacious and there were already little things inside. The floral blankets and shoes already neatly placed by the door indicated that the other band they had to share the house with had already arrived.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" One of the boys called out and only got a small squeak in return.

" _Boys_?" A girly voice called out to them from the second floor balcony, "I think you have the wrong dorm. We are rooming with four other girls. Get lost pervs."

"That's impossible on our paper it says-"

"Wow you're so pretty wanna exchange numbers?" Rin was cut off by Momo's womanizing tendencies. Well, womanizing was a strong word, let's just say that he liked pretty girls that usually scoffed in his face. He was a ball of excitement, mix that with girls and you’d be totally S-C-R-E-W-E-D. The elder redhead felt a headache coming on.

"Uh no. Get away from me." The girl flipped her blond hair behind her shoulder and continued,"We're supposed to be rooming with girls named Nagisa, Haruka, Rin, and Momo."

"That would be us..." Rin sighed and headed towards the bottom floor rooms.

"Wait really? What girly names!" The girl started laughing, "Wait so we have to room with guys?"

"Oh Mari, not for too long. We all know that the armature bands are the first to go. So soon we will have the house to ourselves." A purple haired girl rested her hand on the other one’s shoulder.

"You're right. Haha, we have the top floor so don't even think about coming up here." And with that they both turned to go back to their rooms, leaving Nagisa to call after them

"Hey we will win this! Just you watch!"

They were making so many friends  already. Such nice people around her. So nice.

"Orientation stars in half an hour so start to unpack and finish when we get back." Rin commanded. The large house like dorm had rooms on the top and bottom floor for each member. But the two bands had to share a living area, kitchen, and two bathrooms. Each boy filed into their own rooms on the bottom floor.

Haru threw his suitcase to the side and he flopped down on the made bed thinking about his day so far. Just who was that guy from earlier and why did he seem so eerily familiar. Well he knew that his name was Makoto but what else? Maybe it was just Haru's tired mind playing tricks on him, he did wake up at six and run around for a whole day. He stared at the pale blue wall for so long, if he wanted to, he could probably draw an exact, fairly detailed picture if it.

 

_“Haru, I’ve been putting this off for too long. Haru, you’re my best friend and I'm- I'm love you…Haru please say something.” This time Haru was able to make out a murky, unclear shade of green though the shadows. But his mouth still didn’t react, nor did his body and soon he found himself tripping and falling again._

__

"Haru! Get up. Geez you didn't even start unpacking yet?" Haru looked confused at Rin. Had he fallen asleep?

"Dream." Was the only thing he said before sitting up completely and looking at Rin curiously.

"We can talk about your weird life fantasy later. Right now, we only have five minutes to run half way across campus so we don't miss orientation." Rin pulled Haru off the bed and the three band members coaxed him out of the dorms.

Rin was almost late. Again. And he was out of breath from running. Again. Maybe he should plan to leave an hour beforehand so that the would actually arrive on time to places. They found spots in the middle of the giant auditorium and prayed that their seats wouldn't squeal. It was dark, but not dark enough to not be able to see who was making noise.

The stage was nicely lit from all angles, colorful and normal lights alike. It went nicely with the classic red and gold painted room and bandshell shape. It was quite impressive. Haru wished that they could’ve arrived earlier to look around what looked like a spacious lobby area in the front.

Everyone jumped in their seats slightly when a loud trumpet noise blew and a spot light appeared on the stage. A guy dressed in a funny looking (well funny looking if you asked Haru) hot pink suit strutted into the light. He waved a pale purple gloved hand before grabbing the mic and speaking into it.

"Hello! I am you show host Yana and I welcome all of you to the possible start of your musical careers~" the lime green haired host made grand gestures with his hands and arms "this season, we have last times champions, State of tranquility *insert crazy cheering* joining us yet again to compete against all of these new bands. So to spice our normal bland powerpoint orientation up, we have asked them to perform and be examples! Oo la la."

"Hey Nagisa, state of tranquility..." Rin looked puzzled at Nagisa.

"Those are the guys from earlier!" Nagisa whispered to Rin, it looked like he wanted to say more but flamboyant Host cut him off.

"So here are the general rules if you haven't ever watched the show. Which most of you have, and those of you who haven't. Shame on you. Now, no fighting, cheating, stealing, or anything like that. As many of you know, fans at home vote you guys off one by one until we have a winner so good luck!" He sent a thumbs up to the audience, "The competition part is easy to understand. We give you a word, topic, or phrase and you have two weeks to write a song related to it and rehearse. After that you perform and give a short speech about how you came up with the idea for the song or a short antidote. After the performances, comes the voting And that's all there is too it! As you know, some of your campus life will be filmed as well as the performances so be on your best behavior! Here's an example, one of the challenges from last season. 'Past love'."

Yana moved aside and the bright curtain that was behind him was pulled.

"Hi we're state of tranquility and we would like to play you a song we wrote called 'Vanilla Twilight'." Makoto swung his guitar off his shoulder and got into playing position.

**Vanilla Twilight (Owl City)**

Makoto closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening his mouth.

**The stars lean down to kiss you**

**And I lie awake and miss you**

**Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere**

**'Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly**

**But I'll miss your arms around me**

**I'd send a postcard to you, dear**

**'Cause I wish you were here**

_This is actually really catchy_ , Rin nods along to the soothing techno music. It was sad, yet it gave off a happy vibe. Pleasant, yet deep and out of one’s comfort zone.

**I'll watch the night turn light blue**

**But it's not the same without you**

**Because it takes two to whisper quietly**

**The silence isn't so bad**

**'Till I look at my hands and feel sad**

**'Cause the spaces between my fingers**

**Are right where yours fit perfectly**

Haru looks and analyzes them carefully. The way Makoto looks when he sings. He looks like he’s in pain, or was that a part of the act? The words hold so much sadness, but this person keeps a bright smile to hide everything like the upbeat tune with sad lyrics. A mask. A perfectly painted mask with thinning paint.

**I'll find repose in new ways**

**Though I haven't slept in two days**

**'Cause cold nostalgia chills me to the bone**

**But drenched in vanilla twilight**

**I'll sit on the front porch all night**

**Waist deep in thought because when**

**I think of you I don't feel so alone**

 

**I don't feel so alone**

**I don't feel so alone**

 

**As many times as I blink**

**I'll think of you tonight**

**(Tonight, tonight, tonight...)**

 

**I'll think of you tonight**

_Were so screwed._ Was Momo’s only thought. Usually the positive ginger would be blowing this off as another weak challenger. But this. No, they were so screwed. If all of the other competitors were at this level... They could barely write music, let alone compose something so well put together. Man did they have their work cut out for them.

**When violet eyes get brighter**

**And heavy wings grow lighter**

**I'll taste the sky and feel alive again**

**And I'll forget the world that I knew**

**But I swear I won't forget you**

**Oh if my voice could reach back through the past**

**I'd whisper in your ear:**

**"Oh darling, I wish you were here"**

_How?_ Nagisa thought _How can someone convey that many emotions though melody?_ The song ended and the small blonde watched as the audience woke up from a trance and began a thunderous applause. They seemed like such ordinary guys, well they were ordinary guys. But they obviously had extreme talent.

"That was our entry for 'past love'. This is a song I wrote about my first love. They left one day and I was just… Lost without them. They were my childhood best friend and for certain soul mate." Makoto clutched at something around his neck, "I don’t think there was a day that I went without seeing them. I had a hard time adjusting to the emptiness. It was tragic and I still think of them very often, but you have to move on right? Thank you for listening!” Makoto smiled into the mic and it looked like he waved right at Haru, Rin, Nagisa, and Momo.

Nagisa made a mental note to try to learn more about all of their pasts. It could come in handy for writing. Oh, and to ask Makoto about his weird necklace thing. That was a fashion don't in Nagisa's book (maybe a cool looking dagger charm would be better).

“Thank you State of Tranquility!” Yana observed the disappointed looks, “Fear not my dear viewers! There is plenty more to come. As for now all contestants, we will be deciding our first challenge!”

 

Wheels groaned under the weight of a heavy looking machine being rolled onto stage. Yana toyed with some switches and a rainbow of colors streamed out. The crank made a creaky noise and sounded like it was about to snap when the colorful host let it go. A few grunts and gear turns later, the machine dispensed a slip of paper as big as a fortune from a fortune cookie.

 

“Drumroll please!” Sousuke shot him a look and reluctantly pulled his stick up. A low drumroll was all you could hear for a while, the suspense settling in. Everyone in the room tensed. Momo gripped nervously at the hard metal edge of his seat. This was it. Nagisa swallowed nervously, this one paper would determine how far his career in music will go.

 

“And the first challenge is…'for you'. Good luck to you all!"

\---------

Rin couldn’t breath properly until they were outside of the concert hall and fresh air made its way into his lungs again. _for you…_

"Ah. What are we going to do?" Momo asked no one in particular, stretched his arms above his head. A street lamp flickered on next to him, and a few others started to glow.

“Yo.” Rin’s head snapped up to see Sousuke’s figure illuminated by the light. There were surprisingly no lingering fans hanging on ever so annoyingly to him.

“Hey,” Rin smiled and held his hand up, ready to receive a high five. Sousuke gladly slapped his palm against the others.

 

“Makoto wanted me to ask you guys if you wanted a tour around the campus.” Teal blue eyes looked up at the starry sky while Sousuke stuffed his hand in his pocket. Why on earth do these popular, famous, guys actually want to spend time with a troublesome group?

 

“Mm? Sure if it's not too much of a problem. Though, if I remember correctly, with your sense of direction we maybe the ones showing you around." Sousuke felt the corners of his lips tug down into a pout. Rin smiled, the same, normal, if anything a little teasing, smile that the taller teen remembered throughout the years. Though, his teeth were sure different... Who in their right mind would let their dentist get away with making them look like shark week? Well, Rin would apparently.

"It's not a problem at all," Rei piped up behind them pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“Ah, Rei-chan! You were so cool!” The energetic blonde seemingly came out of no where just to pounce on the bassist. Rei sighed, his cheeks were a rosy red. Though, whether or not they were like that because he was just performing remained a mystery.

"Nagisa please get off me.” Rei lightly nudged him off. The blonde seemed to light up at the sound of his name. This confused Rei until Nagisa spoke again.

"You remembered my name!" He went in for another hug and Rei barely dodged in time.

"Of course. Logically speaking, we just met you a few hours ago and you have been texting me ever since. There was no possible way for me to forget your name unless I got hit with a bus and developed amnesia." Haru who caught a bit of what they were saying winced. It wasn't Rei's fault, he didn't know his word choice would cause Haru to have a quick little pain in his chest.

"You ok Haru?" Perfect timing. Makoto looked at the poor boy with sincerity and concern in his eyes. Haru could only nod and look away. He cursed under his breath, Makoto probably saw him flinch at Rei's comment. Was he going to start asking questions? Haru hated talking about the accident, he thought it made him seem like a freak, but it was something that he would have to tell them eventually if they were all going to be friends. Were they going to be?

Sensing the shorter boys distress, Makoto decided to safely answer, "Alright. Shall we get this tour on the road then?"

\---

It was bugging Momo. He just had to know. He's Momo. He's gots to know everything. He decided to make his move while they were walking around the cafeteria. No one would pay much attention to him cause, food. As much as people denied it, food was always the perfect distraction. Anyone who says exercise is the best distraction has either serious brain damage or they've never tried Momos awesome ice cream sundae. But Momo digresses.

"So," he approached the other bands keyboardist, "Ai, right? I'm Momotarou Mikoshiba!"

Ai glanced at him curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"I just have to know, how do you do it?" The question thoroughly confused the silver haired boy. How does he do what? Play the keyboard? Raise his eyebrow in that weird way? Totally pull off an overly big sweater?

"Do, what exactly?" He voiced his question.

"Room with three guys!" Momo looked at him as if it should have been an obvious first thought. The dorky smile played at his lips and his eyes shone with curiosity. But. What?

"Uh. You do it yourself, shouldn't you know?" Ai smiled a little. He could practically feel the energy radiating off of the happy go lucky boy in front of him. It was nice.

"Yea but your a girl so it's diff-" Momo was cut off by a loud scream of protest.

"I'm not a girl!" Ai gained the rest of the group’s attention. No one else moved, but they sure all stared like it was no ones business. Nosy teenagers.

"But..." Momo looked shocked as he waved his arms in disbelief, "But, you're so cute!"

Ai wasn't sure whether he was blushing because of the complement or if he was just red because someone had just called him a girl. He was obviously a boy. He was so masculine, couldn't Momo see the guns he was packing?

"Oi! Momo, don't go around calling people girls. Say sorry or somethin dumbass, don't just stare." Rin forced Momo into a bowing position and he smiled apologetically at Ai, "Sorry. He's an idiot."

Momo probably apologized after that. Probably. But whether he actually did or didn't completely went over Ai's head. He was awestruck by the elder redhead with adorable pointy teeth. Ai felt his cheeks heat up again, but this time at least he knew why.

"Ah. It's fine. We should continue moving."  

Momo couldn't help but notice the way Ai clung by Rin's side for the rest of the tour. Was Ai sure he wasn't a girl?

\---

The two bands stood outside of the recording building, all of them tired and worn out. Feet aching, minds on complete autopilot. They had gone through all of the concert halls, recording booths, various places to eat, and everything else the campus had to offer. It was well into the night, and Haru had planned for them to all go shopping bright and early cause that's when the market sold the freshest mackerel. Looking as the fireflies lazily fluttered about, they all breathed out heavy breaths and laughter (or a small smile in Haru's case) filled the air.

"Night night Rei-chan." Sousuke didn't have the energy to tell Nagisa that he was hugging the wrong person. He felt a soft nuzzling on his stomach before hearing the younger boy begin to snore.

Pulling the blonde off, Rin mumbled an apology and let his friend wrap his arms around him in a half bro hug half sappy chick flick hug. Awkward yet meaningful. Foreign yet familiar. A gesture that was long overdue.

"Good night. I hope you all sleep well." Rei half pushed his glasses up and lifting his hand up to all of them. Walking around the campus is a lot more work than it sounds.

"Yea, thanks for the tour." Rin sloppily waved and practically dragged a sleeping Momo and Nagisa back in the direction of the dorm. They were heavy. Rin would have to talk to them about cutting down the on the sweets.

With Rin dragging the two others away, Haru was left yet again to bid his goodbyes alone. He waved, he wasn't a huge fan of the mushing gushy romantic crap like Rin.

"Goodnight Haru-ch-"Makoto stopped mid sentence, he had to hold his tongue, he couldn't let it slip out again, "Good night Haru."

Haru looked up carefully at the boy. Studying him again, the soft delicate features in the moon light. Something was wrong. Oh well, that was future Haru's problem. Too much work anyways.

"Goodnight."

\---

"Well well. Look what the cat dragged in." Rin was so not in the mood for old nineties sayings. Those weird girls were standing on the second floor balcony again, watching them come back though the door. Rin barely recalled their names from the bathroom schedules they posted. Mari, Hani, Kasumi, and... Amaya?

"Just because you made friends with the famous band doesn't mean that you're any better than us."

"We never said that it did." Rin growled. He just wanted to go to bed. His nice, soft, inviting, not at all a rude girl who hated their guts for some reason, bed.

"Yea. Well still, we're gonna beat you. Just watch." And with a flick of her hair, the one Rin thinks is Mari was gone along with her friends. Great, they made a new enemy on day one. With their dorm mates none the less, this was going to make breakfast awkward.

Rin let out whatever breath he was holding in, in one long exasperated sigh. He was going to bed now and he didn't even care that he just left Momo and Nagisa in the entryway. No sir. Rin Matsuoka had zero fucks left to give that day. Zero.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. I had a really hard time picking out music for this story and I'm always changing songs out and stuff. If YOU have any suggestions comment either StateofTranquility:(* enter Song*) Or Recklessminds:(*enter song*). I'm also always open to constructive criticism. Thanks for reading! 
> 
> (Next update prediction: 8/6/15 The where Ai and Nagisa bother Haru and Sousuke ) 
> 
> ~Penguin


	3. The one where Ai and Nagisa bother Haru and Sousuke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ai and Nagisa were not Sousuke and Haru's favorite people that day.
> 
> Chapter Highlight:  
> Nagisa's mind went blank for a moment and he felt himself losing control. He picked up the largest book at his disposal. Death note volumes 1&2 black edition. How ironic that Nagisa picked up this book to kill the girl with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH I'm so sorry I missed the deadline. Or well, my set deadline. To you few people that are actually reading my shitty fanfiction, Im super sorry and thanks! So I realized yesterday when I went to go publish the chapter that I didn't actually finish writing it. I literally found the page like this "Haru then- (REMEMBER TO FINISH DON"T PROCRASTINATE)" SOOOO at least I didn't procrastinate. I just forgot... Sorrrrryyyyyyy

**So here’s what you missed last time on battle of the bands:**

**Haru can see part of his dream clearer,**

**Rin has to apologized every few seconds for his Bandmates,**

**Nagisa has a crush?**

**And Momo thought that Ai was a girl**

**And that’s what you missed last time on Battle of the bands**

Nagisa didn’t even remember falling asleep, only that he woke up with a crick in his neck from sleeping on the floor. Being kicked awake at six am was definitely not ideal, but there wasn’t much he could do to prevent Haru’s foot from nudging his pancreas. A groan escaped his lips as he turned on his side to face Momo, who was still snoring soundly on the cold, hard, ground that seemed so inviting to the short boy at the moment. Nagisa had half a mind to wake Momo up as well and make him come along for Haru’s six am torture. But alas, it was the poor blonde’s turn to get up and go to the market with his odd friend. Nagisa was sure that they would stop having to wake up before the sun did when they moved onto the campus, but obviously Haru had other plans. See, Haru has a thing for fresh Mackerel. Well, _thing_ , was putting it lightly. Obsession is more the word. Anyways, the crazy mackerel hunt began on the first or second of every month, and after Haru got arrested that one time (long story short, Haru assaulted a guy with a bag of chips when he took the last fish), the three others decided that at least one of them had to go with him. Cause that’s what friends do, they keep each other out of jail.

“I’m up Haru-chan.” Nagisa’s raised a hand to wipe the sleep from his eyes, “Stop kicking me.” Haru’s hair was still uncombed and his boxers were all wrinkled, but his eyes were bright. Nagisa reluctantly got up and headed towards the downstairs bathroom, happy that he actually listened to Rin (for once) and unpacked everything yesterday afternoon, he pulled his tooth brush out of the draw. He began to lazily brush circles around his teeth and tried to mentally wake himself up, tiredly smiling in the mirror.

_Ok well, were finally here. We actually did it!_ Nagisa thought excitedly, _We even made friends with nice people!_ Well, Nagisa assumed that State of Tranquility and his band were all friends now, cause normal people don't just spend three hours walking around with people they didn’t like, Right? The blonde had to admit that he was a bit starstruck when he first met the other band. They seemed to be on such a higher level than him. Which they were… but that’s not the point, Nagisa was positive that Reckless Minds could get there to their level in no time.

He was sure that the other band would be mean, or snotty from all the fame (despite how magazines often described all of them as nothing but sweet) and completely reject new friends. Especially friends that were only armatures in the music biz. But now, if Nagisa was being completely honest, they were just oddballs. Not that Nagisa was really in the position to criticize others on how they acted.

Makoto was, for the lack of a better word, sweet. Like, if a my little pony and a freaking Disney Princess had a baby, Makoto would be that baby. Obviously the person who first said "nice guys finish last" hadn't met Makoto Tachibana, with the way girls, guys, and all living things in general fawned over him. But that was only Nagisa's impression of him so far, there was probably more to the angelic, broken looking smile.

Sousuke was quiet. Not a shy quiet but a "I'm a cool guy." quiet. Nagisa wasn't quite sure what to make of him yet, but he was Rin's friend so he couldn't be all that bad. Plus he did at least try to be friendly on the tour unlike Haru.

Ai was small. He wasn't very outspoken, but he definitely wasn't shy. He seemed very level headed and kind. Nagisa couldn't exactly blame Momo for thinking that the poor keyboardist was a female. He did have the most feminine build out of all of them. Nagisa would be lying if he said that he didn't think that the silver haired boy was cute.

Rei was indescribable. That was Nagisa's thought on him. Nagisa found him to be the most entertaining out of all of them (but many girls would beg to differ). He liked watching Rei's reactions towards things, the way his face lit up when he talked about the recording studios. The way his nose scrunched up just a little when they entered the bathrooms, cause boys toilets were not a beautiful sight. How his eyes looked like they were going to just going to up and leave their sockets when Momo called Ai a girl. His reactions were funny and Nagisa hoped that he would get to see more of them. He hung around Rei during the tour, listening to him talk. They somehow created a warm atmosphere that Nagisa couldn't exactly describe while walking and aimlessly chatting about something rather stupid. They talked mostly to each other and soon enough it seemed like they were the only ones there, wrapped up in their own little world. They just clicked. It was comfortable in Nagisa's opinion.

Rei wasn't a prince like the other fans saw Makoto and Sousuke as, nor was he the cute boy that Ai was to the fans. No, to everyone else that knew about State of Tranquility, Rei Ryugazaki was a geek. A nerd. Nagisa was ashamed that he made a snap judgement about him based on the tabloids. After actually talking to him, the small blonde found him to be unique and… different. Not just a geek. Not just a nerd. Nagisa had only really known him for a day but he already felt like he wanted to know everything about the taller boy.

And the rest of them of course...

****  
  


Since they were all friends now, Nagisa figured that he had time learn about State of Tranquility. Like really learn. Not just what magazines with pretty covers told him. The real shit. The  embarrassing traits and habits that the public would never know about. The actual person. It made his stomach flip and feel warm. He felt special.

"Nagisa." The blonde felt a weight on his shoulder. He turned to see Haru, fully clothed and a bit annoyed. How long had Nagisa been brushing his teeth?

Well, at least Nagisa got his thoughts sorted out. Though he wasn't sure if it was worth the demonic, hell bent, aura Haru was giving off.

\---

"Stop." Sousuke growled. Now, despite popular belief, Sousuke never really growled. But this was getting annoying.

"Please Sousuke! Just tell me a little about him!" A voice wailed. Now this was also unusual, Aiichiro Nitori was whining. Ai never whines.

"Sousuke, can you please just tell him something." Makoto called out from the the foot of Sousuke's bed. They were all gathered in Sousuke's room.

They could already hear the loud noises of bowls clinking in the kitchen and a suspicious scream of pain coming from the other residents of the dorm. It wasn't like they were anti social and just liked to hang out with each other, it's just that their dorm mates were... Well... Crack addicts. They seemed like it anyways, they already left shit everywhere. And they mean everywhere. Makoto still has no idea how they managed to get a giant Swedish flag wedged in between his mattress. Rei, Makoto, Ai, and Sousuke came back from the tour only to find one of their dorm mates, Eito, sleeping on the counter, holding a stuffed tuna. Tuna, not a stuffed bear, a stuffed tuna. The other band, minus Eito, introduced themselves as The Grandma Killers. _The Grandma killers_. So it was safe to say that they should probably avoid the weird punk rock band with the oddly straight teeth.

"What am I supposed to say?" Sousuke's voice made it clear that he didn't care if he got an answer back or not.

"Just tell him random facts.” Makoto shrugged and just continued leafing through a manga that he found under Sousuke's bed. Kamisama Hajimemashita. Shoujo. Makoto never would have pinned Sousuke as the type.

“I think he meant for that to be a rhetorical question.” Rei pushed up his glasses and tugged on a coat.

“Sousuke! Please tell me something!” Ai was now tugging on Sousuke’s arm. The silver haired boy felt embarrassed that he was acting so annoying. But he couldn’t help it, he felt like he was on cloud nine. Rin was just SO cool. How could Ai not fall for someone like him, the tough, awesome, shark toothed guy. He felt his heart begin to pound the moment the redhead intervened when Momo was spewing utter nonsense and it just never stopped.

Sousuke wasn't blind. He could obviously tell that his friend only had a schoolgirl crush. It was nothing but gratitude mixed with lust. It wasn't obvious to the others but it was obvious to Sousuke. Stupid shoujo manga that his cousin keeps sending him. It was killing his manly brain cells. How many times does he have to tell her that he's not one of those emotionally reserved characters that has commitment complexes because someone they cared about deeply completely left his life on short notice when he was at a young age and he was wrecked for the longest time, only staying in his room hugging a stuffed bear that reminded him of the person and had to go to the hospital because he was sleeping in front of his mail box, waiting for a letter, during a winter storm and got hypothermia... No. She was wrong, he was nothing like that.

It was a stuffed _shark_ thank you very much.

  

“Well… I have to head out. Do you guys want anything while I’m at the store?” Rei fumbled a bit as he tied his shoes.

"Can you pick up some toaster waffles? And maybe the second volume of this?" Makoto had his nose touching the page. It was interesting. Don't judge.

"Oh and those sweet strawberries from the fresh market!" The shortest boy loosened his hold on Sousuke for a second to wave Rei off. Rei pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and nodded his head. A trip to the market sounded nice, the temperature that day was supposed to be perfect walking degrees, but if Ai wanted strawberries then he better get down there fast. Those market people were wolves. He once heard a story about a man that had to go to the hospital after being beaten with a bag of chips. Rei hoped that he would never have to meet a person that would assault someone for food.

"Sure. I'll see you guys later." Rei heard Ai let out another long whine and Sousuke groan.

\---

"Haru please just pick one! I like this one, it's huge!" Nagisa pointed at the biggest Mackerel on the stand, tapping his foot impatiently. Standing in front of a smelly fish stand for about fifteen minutes was something Nagisa had gotten used too. But of course everyone had those days where everything annoys them. Including Nagisa.

"No, that one's not fresh." Haru glanced at the fish that had flies hanging around it's eyeballs. He turned his attention back to the mackerel he was observing.

Nagisa let out a groan. He just wanted to get back to campus and explore some more. Not to mention he had no clue on how they were going to write a song. None of them had any real experience in writing songs, Haru had written small things for them but nothing really big. Nothing with lyrics just music, but Nagisa once caught in trying to hum some sort of words to a tuned.

Since his pleading method was not working, Nagisa resorted to his old reliable. Whining his ass off.

"Haruuuuu-channn. Hurry uppppp. I'm getting tired." The blonde started to twirl and suddenly halted mid spin when he saw a familiar patch of blue hair by the fresh fruit stand. He gasped and started tugging on Haru's jacket."Haru-chan!"

"I'm almost done Nagisa." Haru pointed at the fish he had been evaluating for over 15 minutes and nodded towards the vendor.

"Haru-chan look!" The taller boy didn't budge, his eyes focused on the poor guy wrapping his fish taking extra time to make sure he wrapped it right. Haru's focused look was scary.

"Haruuuu-channnn. Look! I think that's Rei." Nagisa continue to frantically point the boy at the strawberry stand. The boy was weird, he picked up each strawberry and observed it closely bring it so close to his face to the point of almost touching the fruit to his glasses before dropping them in a plastic bag.

"That is him." Haru finally turned around holding his fish like it was a prized possession. He turned in the direction of the train station without giving a second thought about Rei and started walking.

"Haru-chan wait! We have to see what he's doing!" Nagisa was curious as to why he was here. It seemed like a big coincidence that the blonde lead singer was just thinking about the bassist earlier and wanted to know more about him. Rei unknowingly became Nagisa's new source of entertainment.

Now instead of being a normal human being and walking up to him and saying hi, Nagisa decided to turn this encounter into the next James Bond movie. Go figure. Nagisa was never one to do things the simple way.

Haru had a look of annoyance on his face once he realized that the blonde was not following him. He turned back to find nagisa crouching down beside the giant watermelon stand. Sighing, Haru walked back and moved his foot up.

"Ow. Haru-chan what was that for?" Nagisa's hand rubbed his upper arm.

"I thought you wanted to leave." The blonde rolled his eyes and pointing to the fleeting figure. Rei was apparently done picking out fruit.

"Shh. Not until we figure out what Rei-chan is up too."

Haru knew this was ridiculous. But was he in the mood to hear Nagisa complaining about how 'Haru-chan is so mean!' later? No not really, Haru knew better than to pull Nagisa away from something he wanted to do. He just aimlessly followed the blonde around the market holding his fish.

Rei looked like he was heading into the processed foods section towards the end of the market complex. Into a convenience store. Haru had to admit that it wasn't all that terrible following Rei, but weren't they technically stalking. Couldn't they be arrested?

"Here Haru-chan! Put this on!" Nagisa ducked behind the magazines and flung one of those tourist hats at him. It looked kind of old, the color was all washed out. It had probably been sitting in the department store shelf for a while.

Haru, not being one for effort, watched the hat bounce off his chest and land on the floor. Was the hat really all that necessary? It was one of the lamest disguises ever, it's not like one couldn't tell it was still him under the... Purrdy ladies hat. Oh look there were ears attached to the top too.

"It looks like he's getting frozen waffles!" Nagisa had cupped his hands around his eyes pretending to look through binoculars. It was fun, hiding and spying. Apparently Rei likes waffles and strawberries! Nagisa was learning so much.

Why was he so keen on following this boy though? That question popped into Nagisa's mind a few times but was quickly dismissed, cause Nagisa was more of a 'do it before you think' kind of person or just a plain 'don't think' person.

"Why can't we just go ask him what he's up to?" Haru probably should have suggested that three knocked over fruit stands ago. Nagisa suddenly popped up, knocking down a few magazines.

"Because Haru-chan what if h-"

"Hey you two! Buy something or get out!" A store employee glared at the two obvious stalkers.

"Ah, we'll take these!" Nagisa pointed at the hats and ran up to the empty cash register. He slapped a twenty dollar bill on the counter and the man gave him his change.

"Nagisa. He's gone." Haru pointed to the door as Rei walked out the automatic doors. Nagisa let out a strange noise and just tugged Haru out of the store as fast as he could.

They wound about the busy streets filled with different people. They almost lost sight of Rei a few times and people started looking at them funny when Nagisa tried to climb on top of Haru to get a better look. The glasses wearing teen finally stopped at a bookstore. That was no surprise, Nagisa could already tell that Rei would be the type to read for fun. Who does that anymore? Lameeee. Unless it was fanfiction, that shit was good.

Nagisa turned to Haru who was only half heartedly hiding behind the cooking section, "we can't just go ask him Haru! Cause what if he's out here because he's a secret government worker man. Or he's a spy from another country and he's only using the band as a cover. Or what if he's a super special penguin whisperer and he has to keep his true identity covered. Or what if he's meeting another band and he's planning to join them and ditch State of Tranquility! Or what if-"

"He's meeting a girl."

"Yea! What if he's- wait what?" Nagisa looked up at saw the boy they had been following for the past hour by the shoujo manga section. Talking to a girl. Nagisa's mind went blank for a moment and he felt himself losing control. He picked up the largest book at his disposal. Death note volumes 1&2 black edition. How ironic that Nagisa picked up this book to kill the girl with.

Before he regained consciousness of what he was actually doing, Nagisa flung the book in the general direction of the pair screaming, "Stay away from Rei-Chan!"

\---

Sousuke took two Advil already and he wanted to take more. He would have if Makoto hadn't taken them away while saying something about a drug overdose and ending up like Justin Beiber.

Ai had tired himself out and eventually gave up. Choosing to sulk in the corner. The bed springs creaked under Sousuke's weight and he sighed. He may act distant at times but he still had a heart, or at least what remained of shattered pieces.

"He likes red. And sharks." Sousuke could visibly see Ai perk up and practically sparkle.

"Really! What else!" Ai's feet thumped across the floor as he placed his chin on the edge of the bed. Damn Sousuke was a sucker for puppy eyes. But he figured it couldn't be helped. Ai would get over his tiny crush soon enough and they'd all laugh about it later.

"He has a sister, Gou. He can get really competitive."

"Ah, so you finally gave in?" Makoto chuckled coming back in with a glass of water for Sousuke and a bag of goldfish for Ai and himself. He nestled back in on the floor next to the bed.

"He was making his dejected face again, what else could I do?" Sousuke used one of his hands to tug the dark turquoise fabric of his hood over his face.

"I make no such face!" Came the embarrassed mark of protest.

"Yeah yeah." Sousuke paused to think for a moment. Where any of his facts even real anymore? The last time he had seen Rin was... Four, five years ago? "His full name is Rin Lacey Matsouka (A/N: I made that up. I have no idea what his middle name is sorry XP)."

He heard Ai and Makoto make a snorting sound and he couldn't help but smile a little too. "His parents were expecting a girl I think."

"Well except for the girly name Rin is really cool. You're lucky that you're close friends with him." Ai's head dropped a bit. He knew the stories of love at first sight, of course that wasn't the first time he saw Rin. But, if felt like it. Ai knows that he's barely acquainted with the tall red head too, he's not stupid, he knows that they'd never start dating right away like in the movies. He wasn't even sure if Rin swung that way. But despite all the odds stacked against him, Ai was still determined to win the affections of the other boy.

"Yeah. But he's not all that cool." Ai resisted the urge to stand up and protest loudly.

"What do you mean?" Ai asked instead.

"I mean, he's soft. He has his charming out going side but he's also a helpless lump of emotions." Sousuke's eyes glazed over, "He's a romantic. And a big cry baby. He get really emotional about his friends. When your sick, he sits with you until you get better. Bringing you hot tea and slowly running his hands through your hair. He smiles and you feel comfortable. Even if you know something's wrong, he'll assure you that everything is going to be ok and for a little bit he'll make you believe it. He cares so much that it's going to be the death of him one day."

Ai recognized the look of endearment that flashed across his friend's face. Ai could almost feel the loneliness in the other boys chest. "That's the most I've ever heard you say at once! You... You must really miss him huh? I'm sorry for making you talk about him."

Sousuke was shocked for a moment. His face was frozen before he finally signed and frowned a bit. He hadn't forgotten about his best friend once since Rin up and left without so much of a warning one day. Of course there were days when he simply didn't get around to thinking about him, but he never forgot. The shattered glass pieces in his chest reminded him everyday. "I guess so."

\---

Haru had luckily tugged him down before the two looked over in his direction. The book had just bounced off of the girls shoulder with little force but it was enough to cause a scene. Nagisa sat in shock for a moment.

"Why did you do that?" Haru gave Nagisa one of those 'don't fuck with me I know if you're lying' looks.

"I-I have no clue." The surprise on the small blondes face was evident. He was telling the truth. Why... Why did he do that? Nagisa has watched enough crappy chick flicks to tell that his reaction was one fueled by jealousy. But what could he possibly have been jealous of? Rei was talking to a girl, normal boys did that sort of thing. And Rei was now Nagisa's friend so he should feel happy for him, even offer to be a wingman or something. And it wasn't Rei he was jealous of. That girl was only ok. So why that reaction? Why not a pat on the back and a teasing 'congratulations Rei-chan! You finally talked to a girl!'?

Haru was no romantic like Rin. Hell, he was probably the most romantically oblivious out of all of them. But he could see what this was, it was plain as

day. "I think you have a crush." Haru bluntly stated watching Nagisa jump up in panic and fidget. Refusing to meet Haru's gaze.

"Hey! You two!" The store manager stomped over to them. Nagisa peaked over the books again and saw Rei and the girl looking over in their direction. Oh no, they were going to get caught, how were they going to explain this to the manager? To Rei?

"On the count of three run!" Nagisa looked at Haru and nodded.

"One."

"Two."

"Three!" Nagisa lept up and dashed straight towards the door. Unfortunately the rather large manager caught his arm.

"Stop it right there!" He pulled on Nagisa, hoping to subdue him. Haru had to think fast.

Oh Nagisa was going to have to repay him. Big time.

Haru pulled the fish out of its bag and slapped the manager with it. The stunned man let go of Nagisa and the two ran. Haru made sure to throw the fish back at him for safety. His precious mackerel deserved a better end than this...

They had thought they were safe. Until they heard sirens that is. Well, at least they made it out without Rei noticing them.

Nagisa ignored Rin's tapping foot and smiled, "and that's how we ended up in the bookstore jail, now please bail us out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha. bookstore jail isn't real...
> 
> Writing this is a lot of fun! I already have the whole plot line typed out and ready for me to start writing. Do you ever have that struggle where you really want to write a specific part of the story but it all the way in like, the 16th chapter and you're only writing chapter 3? I WANT TO WRITE CHAPTER 16 ToT. 
> 
> If YOU have any suggestions comment either StateofTranquility:(* enter Song*) Or Recklessminds:(*enter song*).
> 
> (Next update prediction: 8/13/15 Dating, movies, and other scary things)  
> ~Penguin


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